Alan's Darkest Days: Part 1
by tenjounotora
Summary: Alan's gone off to school and is trying his best to make his family proud, but one day his world came crashing down.


Alan's Darkest Days: Chapter 1

The Roosevelt Hotel was by far the best hotel in New York City. It was over a hundred and thirty years old and had maintained it's four diamond status for much of that time. It was a place that those with money would stay, and those without would dream about.

But on this weekend it was filled with elementary and intermediate school students. Nine to twelve year olds who were some of the smartest in the country. They had flown in from all over the US, bussed there from the airport and would stay within the confines of the hotel for their entire stay.

That wasn't a problem for them though. Most of these kids had already been to New York at least once. There were even a few that had complained about having to stay at the hotel when their parents lived nearby.

For Alan Tracy, it was his fifth trip to the city. Tracy Industries had an office there and his father had brought him a few times—sometimes alone and sometimes with a brother or two or four. So it didn't bother him that they could only see the city from their windows. They were there for a specific reason and they needed to concentrate on that.

After Alan had turned five he was sent off to a boarding school just like his brothers. It had been the same academy that Virgil and Scott had started in, though they had only been in the middle school building before moving to other more specialized schools.

At first Alan was a little sad. He missed being on the island and with his father all the time. But he soon made friends and came to enjoy school as well, though he always looked forward to breaks and trips back to the island.

The summer before third grade that he and Gordon were finally brought in on their father's secret. Scott was staying on the island to finish up school and train to help in the fairly new organization. Virgil was doing the same. Alan knew that he needed to work hard if he was going to join them in the fun so school became a priority. He knew he needed to be better than his brothers. Not to replace them, but to carve a place for himself within their ranks.

Alan was now in fifth grade and on his school's academic team and while it wasn't as big of a deal as it would be once he got to high school, it was still a very exclusive team and those on it were hand picked and usually the best in the grade. So when he was asked to join, he didn't hesitate.

His dad and brothers were excited for him, it would be the first team that he had joined since being in school. He wanted to make sure to make them all proud.

The team was strict, but Alan didn't mind. Each member was supposed to be versed in all subjects but they also each had a specialty—for Alan it was Science. They practiced three times a week after their last class for almost three hours before going straight to dinner. Then they were expected to go straight to their rooms and do their homework for their classes.

The schedule meant that Alan couldn't hang out with his friends as much, but he didn't mind—he loved the challenge.

They had competed with other schools along the west coast before making it to New York. This often cost them to lose their weekends and parts of their vacations. However that didn't stop Alan from calling his brothers and asking them for help when he needed it.

"John! You awake?" Alan was laying on the floor on the far side of the hotel room, his roommate already asleep in the other bed.

"Alan, what are you still doing up?" John's hologram floated before him the zero-g's from Thunderbird Five made him look like he was swimming and Alan giggled a little at the thought.

"I'm at Nationals, remember? I'm studying."

"Yes, I remember—not sure how I could forget with how often you've reminded me." John chuckled and shook his head a little. "But it's two o'clock in the morning there. You should be asleep."

"You're still up."

"And I go by Tracy Standard Time which means I'm in which timezone?"

Alan sighed a little. "UTC+12."

"And what timezone are you in?"

"I'm in Eastern Standard Time which is UTC-5."

"So, what time is it for me then?"

"Alan scrunched up his nose a little as he thought. "That's an eighteen hour difference. So, Eight at night."

"Right. So, why are you still awake?"

"Cause I can't sleep. I'm still struggling with that one theory you helped me with over Christmas and the competition is first thing in the morning!"

"You were doing fine with it then."

"But it doesn't make sense!" Alan hissed trying not to wake his roommate.

John couldn't help but smile at his little brother. "I know it doesn't. I mean, technically it's not right. But that is the answer that was provided to you by the competition's organizing body and is still considered the most main stream explanation."

"But, if it's not right, why are they using it?"

John ran a hand through his hair, still smiling. "It's only recently—like in the past year— that a couple of researchers published a paper with a new theory that proved that theory wrong. It's going to take time before this new theory becomes more accepted and makes its way into the educational system."

"That's not right. We shouldn't be taught things that aren't correct."

"I'm sure by the time you hit high school, things will have changed. You'll just have to accept it and deal with it for now. I know that's not what you want to hear, but if you want to win, I'm sure they'll only take that old idea as a correct answer."

Alan frowned.

"Now go to bed."

"One last question."

"Yes?"

"Who published the paper and where can I find it."

John eyed his brother. "I'll send it to you tomorrow after your competition."

"How about their names? You can give me that at least, can't you?"

John took in a deep breath and straightened up a little. "On one condition."

"Which is?" Alan was smiling again. He knew he could get John to play along if he bugged him enough.

"You'll keep this comm signal open and go right to bed."

"What, so you can spy on me?"

"Pretty much." John shrugged. "Is it a deal?"

Alan's smile was only half gone. He'd have a little bit of time in the morning to look the scientists up. "Alright, it's a deal."

"Maril Davis and Sachiko Kawamoto. Now go to bed."

Alan saluted his brother before he pushed himself up off the floor and crawled into the bed.

—

"Dad! Did you see it! You watched it right!?" Alan was on the flight home, having had no time to call his father after the competition. They had left the hotel almost immediately so that they could make it back to the school before it got too late. It was only a few hours flight so Alan had called his dad as soon as they had reached altitude.

Jeff smiled at his youngest from his usual seat at his desk in the lounge. "Alan, filter your audio. I can hear the plane as if it was in the room with me."

"Wha? Oh—right, umm…" Alan bent his head down for a moment and the roar of the plane was suddenly brought down to a whisper. "How's that?"

"Much better." Jeff laughed at his sons enthusiasm. "And yes, I did watch it. You did a great job, especially with demanding that they were wrong on that last one. That was a big chance you took."

"I just couldn't stand it! John told me about the new research and I just couldn't give an answer I knew was wrong!"

"Oh? You just took John's opinion without double checking it?"

"Well, he wouldn't give me the paper last night—something about needing sleep—like he's one to talk—" Alan rolled his eyes and laughed a little. "But he did give me the researchers' names so I looked it up before the contest began. I wasn't able to read it all, but I did skim through it. It looked pretty sound from what I could tell, so I went with it. I mean, I didn't understand a lot of what they were saying, but I trust John too. He wouldn't give me false information, ya know!"

"Yes, I know." Jeff chuckled as well and nodded, before waving over the figure that had just appeared at the top of the stairs from the kitchen.

"Hey, squirt."

"Scott!" Alan's eyes got bigger and his smile wider. "Did you watch it too?"

"Sure did. Couldn't be prouder of you. You'll have to call back later to catch Virgil, he's on a quick rescue in the South Atlantic."

"Aww." Alan pouted a bit. "We have to go to our rooms right when we get back. They're going to serve us dinner on the plane."

"Well, then give him a call tomorrow. I'm sure he'll want to congratulate you too."

Alan nodded. "So, anything exciting going on?"

His father reached up and scratched at his chin a little. "Well, I had to take Three up and help one of those new space freighters. They had a gas leak and their orbit was deteriorating."

"OH! OH! Did you have to use Three's arms? Was it a close call? Did John have to help?"

"Whoa! Slow down there. All I did was a cold weld where it was leaking and gave it enough fuel to get where it needed to. It was pretty boring really." Jeff couldn't help but smile at his son's enthusiasm about space.

"That's still cool though! When do I get to go up with you? Or even hang out with John! I'm sure he'd love to have me stay up in Five with him one weekend!"

Jeff laughed at this, it was a questions his youngest asked every time they talked. "After you finish middle school. You should be well on your way to getting your flight hours in by then."

"Yeah, squirt. Dad's handed off your flight lessons to Virgil and me. So this summer when you come home you're going to be spending a lot of time with us up in the skies."

Alan's smile faded a little and his head drooped.

"Hey, what's wrong? I thought you'd be excited?"

"I-I am—I just, I like flying with Dad."

Jeff laughed. "Don't worry. I'm having them take care of your flying, so that I can spend time with you doing something else."

Alan's eyes widened and he perked up. "Wha—"

"Hold on." Jeff held up a hand to stop his youngest. "I'm not going to say what it is yet. You'll just have to wait to find out."

"Ah man!" Alan pouted again. "That's going to make the semester go so slow!"

"Yeah, and now you don't have your academic team to take up your time either." Scott chuckled leaning on the desk next to their father.

Alan's jaw dropped. "Aw man, why did you have to remind me?"

His father and brother laughed at his reaction. "Don't worry squirt. It'll be here before you know it."

"Alan, it's time to get off and have dinner." A figure had walked up behind Alan and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Alright, Mr. Anderson." Alan turned back to his father and brother. "Guess I gotta go."

"Hey, we'll see you during Spring Break in about a month, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world! And don't think I won't be bugging you about summer!" Alan gave them his biggest smile before he turned the link off.

—

Alan made his way into his room and threw his bag onto his bed before he flopped down onto the floor in his half of the room. "Hey, Ade."

"Hey, how did it go?" Ade looked up from the work on his desk and glanced over at Alan.

"We won!" Alan looked up and flashed a smile at him. "I answered the winning question."

"But of course you did." Ade rolled his eyes as he looked back down at his work.

Alan stuck his tongue out for a moment. "Anything exciting happen while we were gone?"

"Not really. We just watched some documentaries in Social Studies. Though Mr. Anderson left us double workbook pages in Math to keep us busy. We're supposed to have it done by Monday." He waved the stack of papers he was working on for emphasis.

"Sorry." Alan shrugged. "If it helps, Señora Bailey only gave us a one day extension on the Spanish video."

"Eh, you'll get it done by Monday anyways." He shrugged. "I'll just have to study over the summer and get on the team kicking your ass out so I can get special treatment."

"Ha! Good luck with that!"

"Hey, if you're playing your game, remember to use your headphones."

"Already ahead of you." Alan popped in the second earbud as he started up his console.

—

"Alan, you're going to be late, again!"

"Just leave him be. If he's late it's his fault."

"Alan!"

"Uhhn…" Alan rolled over onto his back and cracked an eye open. Marcel, his best friend, was standing over him his hands on his hips.

"Wake up!"

"Too early—" Alan went to roll back over, but a hand stopped him.

"We only have ten minutes till class starts!"

"Wha?" Alan's eyes finally popped open. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?"

"I have been trying, and your alarm's been going off for the past hour." Marcel stood and crossed his arms glaring at the empty side of the room. "I'm surprised he doesn't complain more than he already does."

Alan yawned and pulled himself up off the floor, stretching a bit. "Only cause it helps wake him up as well." He turned to his bed where everything seemed to be piled and started picking through it for his uniform. "Go on, I'll be there in a sec."

"You do remember that one more tardy and you'll get a detention and your Dad's going to be called."

Alan flashed his friend a smile. "Don't worry, just go."

Alan got himself dressed and grabbed his bag. He made it to class just as the bell chimed its final ring.

"Well, Mr. Tracy. Made it by the skin of your teeth I see." His teacher shook his head. "Get to your seat so we can get started."

Alan didn't say anything but sat down and rubbed at his eyes.

He woke up more by second period, and by third he was joking and laughing with his friends in class—which he got scolded at least once a day for.

"Hey, Alan!" Marcel was sitting across from him in the cafeteria as they ate their lunch. "Did you get the Spanish video done?"

"Yeah, I did it last night." Lunch was grilled fish with vegetables. Not the best they served but it was better than having to endure his grandmother's meals. "It's not hard, just read the script and post it."

"That's assuming the script is written." Marcel rolled his eyes. "I don't have a brother that is fluent in three languages to help."

"I only had John proof read it. I wrote it all myself, and he didn't tell me how to fix it just what was wrong with it." Alan smiled. "If you want I can help you with it? I don't have my academic team practice anymore."

Marcel eyed him for a moment and then nodded. "You know, thanks to that team my grades have gone down."

Alan laughed at that. "Yeah, I need you to make sure I get up of a morning, and you need me to make sure you turn stuff in."

His friend laughed. "Yeah, not sure what we're going to do when you go off to that specialized middle school."

"Eh, you'll just find another friend. Same as me. And we'll always have Castle Quest."

Marcel smiled back before reaching over to steal a bite of Alan's dessert. Alan grabbed at Marcel's plate and before they could go any farther one of the teachers had to come over to quiet them down.

They were still laughing when they finally left and made their way outside. It was still quite cold out and most of the students had decided to enjoy their break inside, but Alan and his friends didn't mind—they usually spent their time running and working up a sweat anyways.

They made their way across the arboretum to the clump of trees at the far side. It was a small wood with a lot of secret spots—the perfect place for a game of hide and seek. They played through the rest of their lunch break before the bell called them back to the building, their cheeks red with cold.

Spanish was the next class of the day. It was a normal class, Alan turned in his video and they practiced some grammar. This was followed by Science and then Math was the last class of the day.

Most of Math was spent trying to finish the packet they had received the previous week, those that had been gone had received a smaller worksheet to keep them busy in the meantime.

Alan didn't mind. He liked working on math problems, they were like a puzzle. He was already on the second page when the teacher came around the room.

"Alan, must you always change the word problems so they involve your father and brothers?" Mr. Anderson was looking down at him, an eye brow raised.

"What does it matter? I still get the answers right."

His teacher sighed a little, but kept his stern frown. "This is the exact reason you get points off on your test. You need to answer the questions as they are, not all—"

A knock on the door interrupted the teacher. Everyone in the room turned to see who was there.

"Mr. Anderson, sorry to intrude, but could I see Mr. Tracy please."

Mr. Anderson clenched his jaw a little. "Of course, Dr. Ahaus."

Alan glanced from his teacher to the principle. It was highly unusual for him to come and collect a student himself. Discipline was handled by the Dean of Students, and even they didn't come looking for someone unless it was something really bad.

"Go on, we'll finish this discussion later."

Alan thinned his lips at that. He wasn't really liking the direction the conversation was going in the first place, especially since his teacher hadn't lowered his voice any and the entire class was listening in. Hoping his teacher would forget about what he was saying, Alan stood and made his way toward the door.

"You'll need your things." The principle waved a hand to the side of the room where the students kept their bags during the day.

Alan frowned. They lived on campus, it wasn't like he was going to be sent home or something. And they rarely took kids out of class for anything short of an emergency. Even the recognition for the Academic Team was going to be held the next day during dinner.

Alan frowned as he took a detour and grabbed his bag. He let it hang next to him, dragging a little on the floor as he made his way out of the room—the eyes of everyone in the class following him.

The principle gestured for him to follow and started down the hall.

"What's going on?" Alan took a few steps but then stopped.

"We need to discuss something in private." The principle backtracked and put a hand behind him to encourage him to start moving again.

"Am I in trouble? I haven't done anything wrong." Alan stood his ground. Something wasn't right. Bells were ringing in his head as loud as the klaxon on the island.

"No, you're not in trouble. Please, this is not the place to discuss this."

Alan shook the man's hand from his shoulder. "Tell me then. Why did you pull me out of class? Kids only get pulled if something is wrong!"

The principle let out a sigh and squatted down so that he was more on Alan's level. "This really isn't the place Alan."

More alarm bells, the principle never called anyone by their first name, ever. "What is going on?"

Another sigh, "There's been an accident—"

Alan grew stiff. It was possible. What his father and brothers did was dangerous. He shook the feeling off and forced out a smile. "But they're okay right? I mean, Brains designs stuff to be super safe. So, they what, got a broken bone or something? It was probably Scott wasn't it. He was telling me how Brains was going to design him a wing suit." He forced out a laugh but it froze in the air as the principle's expression seemed to grow even more grim.

"Alan, come to the office and I'll—"

"No! Just tell me!" It came out quite a bit louder than he had planed and the principle rocked back on his heels a little.

"We don't want to interrupt the classes—"

"Then just tell me! One of my stupid brothers got into a stupid accident and they're what, in the hospital? They'll be fine! Like I said Brains equipment is super safe! It's all fine!" Alan was finding it harder to keep the forced smile on his lips, his laugh sounding a bit choked.

The principle sighed yet again and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. "It's not your brothers. It's—It's your father. There was an accident a couple days ago and I'm afraid he didn't make it."

A cold chill ran through his body. His hand tightened around the strap of his bag. "No. Why wasn't I told sooner?!"

"They were hoping to find him, but—" The principle shook his head. "I'm sorry Alan. Your brother—Scott will be here tomorrow to collect you."

"No."

The principle stood and moved to guide Alan down the hall, but he evaded the hand. "No! You're lying! He's not—He can't be!" Alan was yelling as loud as he could, as if the volume could make it even more of an impossibility.

"Alan—"

"No!" He just kept repeating it. Louder and louder. Teachers in the rooms around them were starting to poke their heads out the doors to see what the trouble was.

"Alan, please come down to the office with me."

"No!" Alan threw his bag at the principle and ran.

He ran from the building and into the arboretum. He ran across the sleek manicured lawn jumped over the flowerbeds and into the small woods on the far side—the same he and his friends had played in earlier that day.

There was this one group of trees on the far side of the grove that Alan aimed for. The parent tree had fallen a long time ago and the stump rotted out, but then new sprouts sprung up around it and became huge trees themselves. If you knew just were to go you could hide in that old stump and unless you knew about it, it was impossible to find.

That was what Alan was hoping for. He was sure he was the only one that knew about it. No one had ever found him while hiding there and as far as he knew no one else had ever used it either.

He would be safe there and as long as he was there, no one could tell him what he knew couldn't be true; There was nothing on this Earth or off of it that could hurt his dad. Nothing.

Alan slipped into the stump and pulled his knees to his chest burying his face in them. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he gulped the air like he was a fish out of water.

He could hear Dr. Ahaus call his name, but just pulled himself tighter into a ball and stayed as quiet as he could.

Time passed and he could hear more people start calling out his name. First other teachers, then some of his friends. He could see shadows pass above him, someone close to finding him but never looking in just the right place. Eventually his friends were sent to their dinner. A few returned a bit later and tried calling for him again, but he stayed quiet.

It started to get dark before Alan's tears had dried up. His legs were getting stiff, but he didn't want to move. He was safe there, the realities of the outside world unable to get to him.

As the light disappeared they eventually stopped calling his name, but he started to see lights flash around above him. They were still looking for him, but he still didn't want to leave the safety of the trunk.

His teeth started to chatter as the temperature dropped so he clenched his jaw to keep them quiet and wrapped his arms tighter around his legs. He just told himself that the cold didn't matter. Nothing did.

He was tired though, and he eventually fell asleep with no memory of when or how long he'd been out there.

He was pulled out of his sleep by a light. Bright and artificial, it shone at the tree above him. There was also the hum of a laser cutter.

He cracked his eyes open and it felt like his lashes had frozen onto his cheeks. He was so cold and yet he wasn't shivering. Part of him knew that was bad, but a larger part didn't care—this was all just a bad dream anyways.

The wood in front of him cracked and the bright light flooded into the stump. He blinked a few times, but everything was shadowed and a little blurry.

A figure stepped into the light and Alan looked up at it. "Dad?" His voice cracked, his throat sore from all the crying.

There was a pause, a cough and a clearing of a throat. "I'm sorry, Allie."

Hands reached out and pulled him up out of the stump and then picked him up and held him to their chest. A blanket was laid over him and he closed his eyes and drifted off again. He had been right, it had only been a dream. His dad had came and saved him.

—

It was warm. That was the first thing that came to Alan's mind. He was comfortable and warm. He stretched his arms out above his head and stretched his toes as far as he could.

"Finally awake?"

Alan froze mid stretch. The voice sounded familiar, yet out of place. He pulled the blanket off from his face and blinked at the figure standing next to the bed dressed in IR blue.

"Dad?"

"Sorry, squirt. Just me." Scott sat down on the bed and patted Alan's leg.

Alan blinked at his brother. He didn't look right. His eyes were bloodshot, and there were dark circles under them.

"Scott? Are you okay?"

Scott forced out a weak laugh. "About as good as I can be, but I should be asking you that. How are you doing?"

Alan blinked a little, confused by the question. He frowned and sat up as a small bit of a memory made itself known. "Scott—" Alan clenched his hand on his blanket. "It was a dream right?"

"What?"

"Dr. Ahaus. He said—" He clenched his fists tighter. "Dad. He said Dad—" He found his throat clenching and he gasped a little. "It was a dream right?"

Scotts brows drew together as he laid his hand on Alan's. "I'm sorry, Allie."

"No!" Alan scooted away from his brother, as far into the corner as he could, his knees once more to his chest and his face hidden in them. "No! I-It can't be!"

Scott sighed and crawled up to the head of the bed so he was next to his brother. "Alan, I-" He had to clear his throat, the tears once again coming to his own eyes. "I wish I could say it was a dream. I really do." He wrapped his arm around his brother and pulled him close.

Alan leaned over and wrapped his arms around Scott, his face buried into his brother's chest and cried.

They sat there for a long time. The brothers clinging to each other. But there were things to do, and they couldn't stay there all day.

"Alright, Allie. We—" He paused and cleared his throat as he reached up and wiped at his eyes. "We need to get you home."

Alan sniffed and looked up at his brother. He opened his mouth, about to say that he didn't want to go home, but then he realized that he wanted nothing more than to be with his brothers so he closed it and nodded.

"I went ahead and packed a few things—some clothes, your games—that kind of stuff. We have to swing by the office so I can officially sign you out, but then we can head home."

Alan looked down at what he was wearing, and found he was still in his uniform from the day before. He scooted out of his bed and reached for the packed bag on the floor.

As he got dressed he glanced around the room. It was markedly cleaner than usual, seemed Scott had kept himself busy while he had slept. He glanced over at the other side of the room, it was empty but that shouldn't have been a surprise since it was late morning.

Scott caught the glance. "They had your roommate sleep in a friends room. He came in earlier to grab a couple of things, didn't seem to be the friendliest of boys though polite."

Alan nodded and threw his uniform on his bed. He just stood there unsure of what to do. He really just wanted to curl up under the covers again, but then he also really wanted to see his brothers as well.

"Come on." Scott stood and grabbed his bag, "Let's get going."

Scott opened the door and Alan walked through it. He felt like a zombie—except he wasn't craving any brains—but very little seemed to register as they walked through the halls and into the school building. He hadn't really paid attention to the time, but when they walked through the doors the bell had rung for lunch. Students had started to emerge from the rooms and froze when they saw him—whispers and looks made him feel like he was on display.

Alan stayed just that much closer to his brother and kept his eyes down, he couldn't look at anyone just then and he had to force himself not to reach up and grab his brother's baldric like some kid.

They walked into the office and were led straight into the principle's office.

Dr. Ahaus reached out and shook Scott's hand. "I won't keep you. I know you'll be wanting to get home. I just want to apologize for last night. I should have made him come to the office—"

Scott held up his hand and shook his head and Alan felt a punch to his gut—his dad had done the same thing the last time they had talked.

"He probably would have run either way."

"Well, I'm glad you were able to find him. I had a small conference this morning with his teachers. We are prepared to help you as much as we can. I know he won't come back for a bit and his teachers have prepared a few packets he can work on while he's home, when he's ready of course."

"Thank you. We appreciate it."

Suddenly Alan's backpack was being held out to him. He blinked and took it letting it hang next to him—the straps dragging on the floor.

Alan had heard the conversation though didn't process it. Everything around him seemed like it was moving in slow motion and he had no strength to try and catch up or understand what was happening around him so he let his mind go blank and let the world move on without him.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to give us a call. We'll do what we can to help."

"Thank you again." Scott reached out and shook the principle's hand once more.

He felt Scott's hand on his back and looked up at the sad smile on his brother's face before looking away quickly. He couldn't cry here, not with everyone out in the halls. He bit his lip and allowed his mind to go blank again as he was led out of the office.

There were still kids in the hall, but Alan paid them no mind. He kept his eyes on the floor and followed his brother's blue boots.

Those boots led him out to the football field where Thunderbird One had been parked. One of the school's security guards was nearby to make sure the kids didn't get close to it, and waved when they passed.

Alan climbed the ladder into the bird's belly and let Scott take his bag to stow it away before making his way to the jump seat that sat behind his brother's chair.

He climbed into the seat and pulled down buckled himself in. A moment later Scott appeared and pulled down the shoulder restraints and made sure he was secure before moving up to his own seat.

Usually Alan would have been excited to ride in one of the Thunderbirds, but he barely registered the jet taking off. There was no whooping or laughing as they broke the sound barrier either. Alan just sat there with his hands on the shoulder restraints. His eyes were unfocused and the weight on his chest from the Gs was making it a little hard to breath—or maybe it was making him want to cry again, he wasn't quite sure anymore.

"Alan? You okay?"

Alan blinked and his brother was in front of him—or rather above him. He took in a deep breath, the pressure no longer there.

"Alan?"

"I'm fine." It was barely a whisper as he lifted the shoulder restraints. He crawled out of the seat and climbed down to where his bags were stowed. Slowly he opened the hatch and pulled them free and laid them down on the platform that had been raised to carry him down.

There was a hand on his shoulder just as he stepped onto the platform and he glanced up at Scott as the platform started to move. For a moment, his brother looked too much like his father and he had to bite his lip to keep from crying again.

As soon as the platform had lowered them to the ground he grabbed his bags and took off toward the elevator that would take him to the house.

He went straight up to his room and slammed the door behind him. He threw his bags on the bed and flopped down on the floor burying his head in a pillow and cried.


End file.
